A distillation process occurs by heating a liquid in a still, collecting vapor produced by the heated liquid, and cooling the vapor back into a liquid. When heating an ethyl alcohol and water liquid mixture in the still, the ethyl alcohol vaporizes before the water due to having a lower boiling point than the water. Distillation systems take advantage of this by collecting the ethyl alcohol vapor, separating it from vapor produced by the water and then condensing the ethyl alcohol vapor. In this way, distillation systems are able to extract the ethyl alcohol from a liquid mixture.
Distillation systems typically incorporate rectification columns where the separation of distillate compounds (e.g., alcohol, ethanol, liquid water, etc.) occurs. Within the rectification columns are a number of plates (e.g., bubble plates, etc.) that selectively segment the rectification column into a number of sections between which equilibrium processes occur. Each of the plates may include a valve that may be opened such that the distillate compounds can bypass each plate and therefore each section. The more sections that the distillation compounds are routed through, the higher a final concentration of the alcohol or ethanol in the mixture will be. In this way, an operator can open or close the valves on the rectification column to control the final concentration of the alcohol or ethanol.
Distillation systems are typically constructed from copper components because of the high thermal conductivity of copper. The ethyl alcohol contacts copper surfaces within the distillation systems which can cause a chemical reaction to occur as the sulfides within the vapor react with the copper surfaces. As a result, these sulfides may become trapped within a layer or film of deposits on the copper surfaces. These deposits typically have to be removed between distillation processes (e.g., batches, etc.).
Currently, distillation systems include a clean-in-place (CIP) system that allows an operator to clean the copper surfaces inside the distillation system such that the layer of deposits is removed. These CIP systems are operated through the use of valves and plumping and typically involve injecting a cleaning solution into the distillation systems such that the cleaning solution removes the layer of sulfide deposits. In this way, these CIP systems eliminate the need for the operator to manually scrub and treat the copper surfaces (e.g., using pressurized fluid, etc.).
CIP systems include nozzles, such as CIP balls, through which the cleaning solution is injected. These nozzles disperse the cleaning solution within specific components of the distillation system. For example, when a pressurized supply of cleaning solution is provided to the nozzles, the nozzles may rotate causing the cleaning solution to be sprayed outwards. However, the CIP balls are unable to spray the cleaning solution in a three-hundred and sixty degree trajectory, the structure which supports the CIP balls observes some range of cleaning. As a result, a need exists for a CIP system that provides cleaning solution in a three-hundred and sixty degree trajectory such that still components may be more efficiently and effectively cleaned.
For some relatively smaller components of the distillation system, such as between plates in the rectification column, these nozzles may be ineffective and/or inefficient in removing the deposits due to inconsistent spray of the cleaning solution. Further, these CIP balls are configured such that the cleaning solution is sprayed in a top-down manner which causes the cleaning solution to trickle into a dephlagemator of the distillation system. As a result, a need exists for providing a CIP system that effectively and efficiently cleans deposits from copper surfaces of relatively smaller components of a distillation system, such as between plates in a rectification column.